9 Old-Timey Summer Drinks to Beat the Heat

As summer temperatures soar, staying cool can be a challenge. This list of tasty and refreshing summer drinks from the days of yore are great options when you want to swap plain old seltzer water for something a little more interesting.

1. Buttermilk Lemonade 
2. Peach Frappé
3. Tennessee Fruit Tea 
4. Ginger Ale Julep
5. Agua Fresca 
6. Grape Juice 
7. Shirley Temple
8. Ginger Beer 
9. Raspberry Mint Crush 

Buttermilk Lemonade 

Main ingredients:

• Store-bought buttermilk
• Lemon juice
• Sugar

A creamy twist on the classic summer citrus cooler appears in Good Drinks Made of Milk, Kickless but Full of Punch, published by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1919. The refreshing and nutritious buttermilk lemonade is easy to make by adding lemon and sugar to buttermilk. It should be served very cold. “It will usually be found necessary to use more sugar and more lemon juice than in making lemonade with water,” the recipe advises.

Peach Frappé

Main ingredients:

• Shaved ice
• Lemon juice
• Syrup from canned peaches

Looking for a thrifty way to stay cool with a reviving drink? Bertha E.L. Stockbridge has you covered. In her 1920 book, What to Drink; The Blue Book of Beverages; Recipes and Directions for Making and Serving Non-Alcoholic Drinks for All Occasions, she suggests using leftover juice from canned or preserved fruit. “One should remember always that the syrup from preserved fruits is much heavier, and in consequence would be somewhat too sweet to use as it came from the fruit unless a little acid were added to it,” she writes. To make a peach frappé, Stockbridge advises combining shaved ice with a teaspoon of lemon juice and two tablespoons of syrup from a can of preserved peaches.

Tennessee Fruit Tea 

Main ingredients:

• Plain iced tea
• Fruit juice (orange, pineapple, or your choice)
• Lemon juice
• Sugar
• Fruit slices or mint as garnish

The American South is famous for its iced tea, and in Tennessee, fruit juice meets tea for an especially summery take that has a history of being served in Nashville. It’s easy to make: simply combine iced tea with orange juice (and if you like, other juices such as pineapple juice), a bit of lemon juice, and serve in a Collins-style glass with plenty of ice. The Loveless Café in Nashville offers a recipe that calls for using a cinnamon stick along with the tea. 

Ginger Ale Julep

Main ingredients:

• Ginger ale
• Water
• Lemon juice and peel
• Sugar
• Fresh mint

Stockbridge’s ginger ale julep recipe in What to Drink calls for “sprays of mint” to decorate and flavor this non-alcoholic beverage. “If there are to be a number served, the lemon juice, lemon peel, sugar, and a little water may be mixed, crushed with the mint, and allowed to stand on ice for half an hour,” she writes. For an extra kick of flavor, muddle the peel, mint, and sugar with a little water in a tall goblet before adding the lemon juice, ginger ale, and ice. Serve with a straw, maraschino cherries, and more mint. 

Agua Fresca 

Main ingredients:

• Water
• Fresh cucumber
• Lime juice
• Sugar

A favorite at Mexico’s street markets, and reportedly dating to precolonial times, agua fresca is made by muddling and steeping fruits and flavorings along with sugar for a cooling beverage that’s perfect for sipping under the hot sun. On her site Muy Bueno, second-generation Mexican American food blogger Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack shares a recipe for agua de pepino (cucumber agua fresca), calling for cucumber, water, lime juice, and sugar. A big batch can be stored in the fridge for up to three days.

Grape Juice 

Main ingredient: 

• A lot of grapes

Looking to get a bit more ambitious with your drink prep? This recipe makes grape juice from scratch. Fruit quality is important for preparing this classic, Stockbridge warns in What to Drink: “Only clean, sound, well ripened, but not overripe, grapes should be used.” Once the juice is extracted from the grapes though crushing by hand or with a cider press, it should be gradually heated to a maximum of 200°F. Next, it’s poured into a glass container to settle for 24 hours before being drained from sediment, and then poured into bottles for canning. “Any person familiar with the process of canning fruit can put up grape juice, for the principles involved are the same,” Stockbridge writes helpfully (her recipe includes guidance on the process).

Shirley Temple

Main ingredients:

• Grenadine syrup
• Ginger ale or lemon-lime soda
• Maraschino cherry

This grenadine and soda drink is named for the iconic child star of 1930s cinema, but the precise details of how it got its name remain a mystery. Today, it’s a non-alcoholic cocktail staple, favored by those who prefer a longer and sweeter drink. Whether you choose to use Sprite or ginger ale for yours, don’t forget the all-important maraschino cherry, the fancy garnish that allegedly made a young Temple jealous of her parent’s cocktails. 

Ginger Beer 

Main ingredients:

• Ginger bug starter
• Water
• Sugar
• Fresh lemon juice
• Fresh ginger

In Aerated Beverages: Including Cordials, Brewed Beers, Etc.: And All About Them, released around the beginning of the 20th century, the anonymous author argues that Jamaican ginger will yield the very best results in this old-timey version of ginger beer. The recipe also calls for ingredients like  sugar, tartaric acid, salicylic acid, and cream of tartar. But for modern drinkers hankering for sweet and spicy fermented refreshment, Emillie Parrish’s recipe on her Fermenting For Foodies blog might be a better place to start.

Raspberry Mint Crush 

Main ingredients:

• Sugar
• Water
• Fresh raspberries
• Fresh mint
• Lime juice

Nothing says summer like fresh berries, and in the 1953 book Holiday Punches: Party Bowls, and Soft Drinks, Edna Beilenson offers up a recipe that is perfect for using leftover red raspberries before they turn bad in the heat. To make raspberry mint crush, simply dissolve two cups of sugar in three cups of boiling water and let chill, before adding a cup of raspberries, a bunch of mint, and two cups of lime juice. Chill the whole thing in the fridge for a couple of hours, then strain and pour over cracked ice. This recipe should make 12 small, party-ready glasses. 

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